The Hollow Road: Burials Along a Lane That Doesn't Exist

The Hollow Road: Burials Along a Lane That Doesn't Exist

A hidden, well-worn nine-foot clay lane led straight to Bluff Ridge Burying Ground - worn so deep the earth remembers but no deed, easement, or map ever did. Forty-eight burials over 122 years list the route simply as "hollow road"; who built and why it was erased from every record is the question at the center of this episode.

In this episode, we trace the discovery from a septic evaluator’s percolation test to county records and century-spanning gravedigger logbooks, following the trail of a road maintained in secret for generations. What does the gap between physical memory and official paperwork reveal about the township and the families who used that lane?

Person: William Patterson Person: Doug Mabry Person: Rhonda Edwards Location: Bluff Ridge Burying Ground, Cutter's Bluff, Indiana Period: 1841-1993

- Date: September 2011 - William Patterson discovered the nine-foot packed clay lane while doing a soil-percolation test. - Entry: March 1841 - gravedigger logbook records "Daughter of H. Pelham, aged eleven days" with route "hollow road." - Count: 48 entries - the logbooks note the route "hollow road" in forty-seven additional entries over 122 years (totaling forty-eight). - Maintenance: 33 years - gravedigger Ed Szymanski maintained the lane using limestone screenings for three decades after being shown the practice. - Records searched: deeds and plats back to 1837 - county title researcher Doug Mabry found no recorded deed, easement, or right-of-way for the lane.

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